Rent Brassed Off (1996)

A marvellous film - Brassed Off review by CP Customer

Apart from the absolutely brililant brass music from Grimthorpe Colliery band, it paints a true and realistic picture of the (then) plight of the miners, instead of the adverse and biased publicity given out by Thatchers media. A quarter of a million men lost their jobs due to the pit closures and to read and listen to the ridicule and dismissive comments of the media at the time you would think it was the miners' fault !

Fantastic British RomCom/Drama - Brassed Off review by GI

This romantic comedy/social drama is a British film worthy of a fresh audience. In many ways its a companion piece to Billy Elliot (2000) in it's setting within a north England mining town dealing with the collapse of community due to pit closure although this film is more political than the later film. Set in the fictional town of Grimley where the coal mine is the lifeblood of the community. The mine survived closure during the infamous 1984 strike but now in 1992 it again faces closure despite being profitable. The story follows the colliery brass band led by Danny (Pete Postlethwaite) who believes 'only music matters' and he bullies and badgers his band to win the local tournaments with a dream of making it to the national championships. But many of his players are struggling with the likely loss of their jobs including Danny's son, Phil (Stephen Tomkinson) and young Andy (Ewan McGregor). The arrival of ex local girl, Gloria (Tara Fitzgerald) perks them all up as she's a humble but gifted trumpet player and very attractive too much to Andy's delight. But the pressure of debts, job losses and the potential of the mine and the brass band ending makes the chances of getting to the finals doubtful unless Danny can get them all behind the idea. This is a serious drama with some superbly written comedy thrown in, it has sadness and romance all in the mix making it a delight. There's a great British cast and you may recognise the famous speech that Danny makes at the film's ending as parts of it were sampled in Chumbawumba's great pop hit Tubthumping. Either way this is a great little British film and well worth seeking out if you've never seen it.

An excellent film with emotional punch, despite it being a little unsure what it wants to be - Brassed Off review by TB

When Brassed Off was released, it was a small British film with a roll call of either well-established actors (Pete Postlewaite) or up-and-comers (Ewan McGregor.) It also was about a very painful time in British history, namely the mass closure of the colliery pits all over the UK by the Thatcher government, decimating many hundreds of towns as well as destroying the pride of the people who worked in and lived around them. When the pits were working in their prime, everybody pretty much either worked down or was associated with the colliery industry. Despite a valiant & passionate fight, pretty much every one was closed down. But it wasn't just the pits that closed; whole communities were destroyed and descended into poverty, crime & hopelessness.

Brassed Off is set in the final days of the fight to keep the (fictional) Grimley pit open. The workers have been on strike and as a consequence, almost everyone is penniless and struggling to survive. The one element of pride for many in the town is the Grimley colliery band. When a national competition is launched to find the best band the group, led by the formidable Danny, decides to enter to try & win and restore some pride to their town.

For me, the absolute stand-out is the music, which is provided by the real life Grimethorpe Colliery Band. The various selection that is played is absolutely perfect and really makes the film & scenes come alive.

The performances are also great, particularly Postlewaite and McGregor, although there is also excellent work from Stephen Tompkinson & Tara Fitzgerald. The film also has a very strong and dry humour which runs through it, whether it's the messing around & tomfoolery of the band members, through to the reactions of the older members when the very attractive and talented Gloria returns to the town and joins the band. This humour does give the film a very much needed lightness of touch considering the heavy subject matter.

As mentioned at the beginning, the film quite rightly shines a light on the trauma, difficulties and anguish which so many in the towns faced as they were thrown into unemployment with no income and no hope. But here is where, for me, the film falters: it cannot make up its mind what it wants to be. Does it want to be a social justice film/kitchen sink drama in the style of Ken Loach? Does it want to be a romantic comedy, hence the large amounts of humour running through it as well as the focus of the rekindling of the love affair between McGregor and Fitzgerald's characters? Does it want to be a competition-style film, where everything is building up to the final showdown? Or does it want to be a political film about the fight between the government of the day and the unions/workers? Frustratingly, it tries to do all 4 of them, at the same time, to varying degrees of success.

The biggest issue for me was that the film spread itself far too thinly, losing some of the momentum which it builds up well in the beginning. Then, as it progresses and everything is fighting for screen time, it does lose traction. But this is more a complaint to the fact that I really wanted it to be able to deal with all of the vital subjects it was showing in a better way. However, as you can see from my star rating, it still made a powerful impact & was extremely enjoyable.

Finally and most welcomingly, as much as it is a small British film, it did massive business at the box office, becoming a runaway success and something of a cult movie.

Definitely a great film, despite some frustrations I have with it. And if you have a music streaming service, look up the soundtrack by the Grimethorpe Colliery Band once you've watched it, as it is stunning.